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A MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY OF NEWFOUNDLAND PUBLICATION
February 18, 1999
Stipend causes controversy
Singled out
il president ot the Canadian Atrto4Morkers, was a kaynrte speaker at Busirn
sfca weJMtrtowTi national union figure as wdl as a social and political .hIv * ,itt
% Ywxkerv and iheir families. At lhe conference, the union leader spoke lo an audience
5 and business people on the importance oi govemrnent and corporate respor»ibil«t>
d annually by Memorial's graduating bachelor ol" commerce dass.
By Peter Morris
In 1997, in the wake of pay equity
adjustments, the Department of
Human Resources undertook a review
of some university jobs to address a number of distortions thai hail occurred in
workplace salary relationships. Only certain classes of employees were evaluated
under pay equity and. among other problems, ihe action resulted in some ]>>hs that
were subordinate to others actually being
paid at a higher salary
"We weren't totally surprised that some
of the traditional salar> relationships among
employees were distorted by the number of
changes we made to pay rates and to job
classifications." said Dr. George Hickman,
director of Human Resources. "We
reviewed a number of job classes and made
several adjustments to employees' salaries
as a consequence."
Now, one of those adjustments, the payment of a stipend to administrative support
employees in executive offices, has caused
some controversy at lhe university.
The Canadian Union of Public employees local on campus. CUPE 1615. claims
thai the stipend represents preferential treatment for the eight women who work
relaries and executive assistants in the
offices of die president and vice-presidents.
However, university officials say that
the only thing unfair Is the manner in
which these employees arc being singled
out by lhe union.
"Wc made adjustments across a number
of job classes lhat resulted in increased
salaries for union, management and non-bargaining unit employees," said Dr. Hickman.
"To single out this small group of employees
is to ignore the adjustments wc made at the
same time to many other employees who
were in similar cireimistances."
Dr. Hickman said the review of job
wed three ihings: supervisor,
relationships, salary relationships and
market relationships
'The largest group affected was the
"All we are doing is trying to
develop a pay system that is
fair for al! of our employees
and that fairly compensates
them for their work."
Administrative Staff Specialist II class
who alt received pay adjustments," he
said. "We also made adjustments to
salaries of other classes of employees
including general office supervisors, staff
.I,, tn mi units, tendering clerk and, customs
clerk employees, the secretary to Senate,
the personnel technician and benefits officer class, university information officer
class, equity officer, computing systems
officer and system programmer classes.
senior clerk stenographer class, assistant
(Its officer and accountant clerk
classes.
In addition, we introduced market differentials to deal with the need ol' lhe university
lo compete with the private sector on salary
for computing and information technology
employees."
Dr. Hickman explained that the stipends
for the executive support staff came about
as part of this overall review and were
introduced along with these other measures
See STIPEND page 2
New degree programs approved
Grenfell gets two
of Arts degree
humanities and
ishwal studies will mean
ine dukes for students who
^^ped Grenfell College,
hropal Adrian Fowler.
Bfcftnu-k pleased with
lajTK programs, which are
qstng with tii en fell's long-
iitralegy to increase the
an trough which students
Cm interdisciplinary, lib-
ion.'" he said. "The pro
grams are distinct lo Grenfell College, where we emphasize personalized, interactive and quality
teaching."
Gassics professor Dr. Michael
Parker represents one of the seven
disciplines that have come together
to form the humanities degree program. The others are English,
French, histoiy, philosophy, religious studies and fme arts history
(art mid theatre history).
Dr. Parker said a series of
required humanities courses will
bridge die different subjecl areas.
These courses will provide a foundation for the degree, uniting the
seven disciplines. Students will
The social/cultural
degree program is
designed to let
students take a look
at our society and
culture from different
vantage points."
inierprel and analyze human experiences, as well as draw links
between the various ''humane disciplines" that combine to make us
whal we are.
Similarly, the social/cultural
degree brings together disciplines
such as anthropology, sociology,
folklore and history, said social
science professor Dr. John Ashton.
"We look al lhe world from a
number of different perspectives,"
said I>r. Ashton. "The social/cultural degree program is designed
to let students lake a look at our
society and culture from di.teteni
vantage points."
Both t>. Parker and Dr. Ashton
agree that these kinds of interdisciplinary programs make students
more competitive in the job market.
"Students with a liberal arts
education are more flexible and
adaptable," said Dr. Parker. 'They
have marketable skills thai come
from not only the in formal ion
they've learned, but also from the
learning process i tsc 11
More and more students are
beginning to realize the value of a
liberal arts education, added Dr.
.Ashton.
"They learn how to apply any
number of strategies in dealing
with the problems they face," he
said, "Students in social/cultural
studies will realize how applicable
their skills will be to problem-solving and policy development at
local and global levels "
Memorial
and the
Web 5-7
Games
wrumm

A MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY OF NEWFOUNDLAND PUBLICATION
February 18, 1999
Stipend causes controversy
Singled out
il president ot the Canadian Atrto4Morkers, was a kaynrte speaker at Busirn
sfca weJMtrtowTi national union figure as wdl as a social and political .hIv * ,itt
% Ywxkerv and iheir families. At lhe conference, the union leader spoke lo an audience
5 and business people on the importance oi govemrnent and corporate respor»ibil«t>
d annually by Memorial's graduating bachelor ol" commerce dass.
By Peter Morris
In 1997, in the wake of pay equity
adjustments, the Department of
Human Resources undertook a review
of some university jobs to address a number of distortions thai hail occurred in
workplace salary relationships. Only certain classes of employees were evaluated
under pay equity and. among other problems, ihe action resulted in some ]>>hs that
were subordinate to others actually being
paid at a higher salary
"We weren't totally surprised that some
of the traditional salar> relationships among
employees were distorted by the number of
changes we made to pay rates and to job
classifications." said Dr. George Hickman,
director of Human Resources. "We
reviewed a number of job classes and made
several adjustments to employees' salaries
as a consequence."
Now, one of those adjustments, the payment of a stipend to administrative support
employees in executive offices, has caused
some controversy at lhe university.
The Canadian Union of Public employees local on campus. CUPE 1615. claims
thai the stipend represents preferential treatment for the eight women who work
relaries and executive assistants in the
offices of die president and vice-presidents.
However, university officials say that
the only thing unfair Is the manner in
which these employees arc being singled
out by lhe union.
"Wc made adjustments across a number
of job classes lhat resulted in increased
salaries for union, management and non-bargaining unit employees," said Dr. Hickman.
"To single out this small group of employees
is to ignore the adjustments wc made at the
same time to many other employees who
were in similar cireimistances."
Dr. Hickman said the review of job
wed three ihings: supervisor,
relationships, salary relationships and
market relationships
'The largest group affected was the
"All we are doing is trying to
develop a pay system that is
fair for al! of our employees
and that fairly compensates
them for their work."
Administrative Staff Specialist II class
who alt received pay adjustments," he
said. "We also made adjustments to
salaries of other classes of employees
including general office supervisors, staff
.I,, tn mi units, tendering clerk and, customs
clerk employees, the secretary to Senate,
the personnel technician and benefits officer class, university information officer
class, equity officer, computing systems
officer and system programmer classes.
senior clerk stenographer class, assistant
(Its officer and accountant clerk
classes.
In addition, we introduced market differentials to deal with the need ol' lhe university
lo compete with the private sector on salary
for computing and information technology
employees."
Dr. Hickman explained that the stipends
for the executive support staff came about
as part of this overall review and were
introduced along with these other measures
See STIPEND page 2
New degree programs approved
Grenfell gets two
of Arts degree
humanities and
ishwal studies will mean
ine dukes for students who
^^ped Grenfell College,
hropal Adrian Fowler.
Bfcftnu-k pleased with
lajTK programs, which are
qstng with tii en fell's long-
iitralegy to increase the
an trough which students
Cm interdisciplinary, lib-
ion.'" he said. "The pro
grams are distinct lo Grenfell College, where we emphasize personalized, interactive and quality
teaching."
Gassics professor Dr. Michael
Parker represents one of the seven
disciplines that have come together
to form the humanities degree program. The others are English,
French, histoiy, philosophy, religious studies and fme arts history
(art mid theatre history).
Dr. Parker said a series of
required humanities courses will
bridge die different subjecl areas.
These courses will provide a foundation for the degree, uniting the
seven disciplines. Students will
The social/cultural
degree program is
designed to let
students take a look
at our society and
culture from different
vantage points."
inierprel and analyze human experiences, as well as draw links
between the various ''humane disciplines" that combine to make us
whal we are.
Similarly, the social/cultural
degree brings together disciplines
such as anthropology, sociology,
folklore and history, said social
science professor Dr. John Ashton.
"We look al lhe world from a
number of different perspectives,"
said I>r. Ashton. "The social/cultural degree program is designed
to let students lake a look at our
society and culture from di.teteni
vantage points."
Both t>. Parker and Dr. Ashton
agree that these kinds of interdisciplinary programs make students
more competitive in the job market.
"Students with a liberal arts
education are more flexible and
adaptable," said Dr. Parker. 'They
have marketable skills thai come
from not only the in formal ion
they've learned, but also from the
learning process i tsc 11
More and more students are
beginning to realize the value of a
liberal arts education, added Dr.
.Ashton.
"They learn how to apply any
number of strategies in dealing
with the problems they face," he
said, "Students in social/cultural
studies will realize how applicable
their skills will be to problem-solving and policy development at
local and global levels "
Memorial
and the
Web 5-7
Games
wrumm